On a sun-soaked and sea-breeze filled piece of American land, nestled between the ocean and an intercoastal highway, one young family envisioned a luxurious new estate home, brimming with beauty and intelligence. Enter Global Wave Integration (GWI) with its one-of-a-kind offerings and commitment to teamwork to make this dream a reality.
The project was all things sophisticated and highly complex. Among the many featured systems are a Crestron Digital Media NVX system with 33 sources and 28 endpoints in the main house alone; a “Fun Zone” for the kids, featuring a Planar video wall as well as a GWI-designed VR/AR gaming system; Lutron HomeWorks QS Lighting System in addition to 234 fully automated Lutron shades, which are programmed based on the time of day; and a Crestron Sonnex Multi-Room audio system that serves 90 zones inside.
“The main performance objective was to provide a fully intuitive automation system that allowed the family to easily operate their expansive estate,” noted Kyle Steele, president, GWI. “Knowing this was a luxury residence in every regard, we deployed a full Crestron experience that allows them to feel like they are living in a world class resort, while simultaneously being able to simply and intuitively navigate their home. By utilizing Crestron in every aspect of the property, we were able to create the state-of-the-art yet simple-to-use interface and voice control capabilities that the family desired.”
Peace of Mind
The primary concern for the family was security. “It is the most elaborate access control system we have deployed to date, with many maglocks installed on the interior doors, including a security room and a marine-grade surveillance system that captures the ocean and intercoastal side of the estate,” explained Ryan Guss, GWI’s general manager.
To maintain security, GWI installed an IC Realtime surveillance system; DoorBird entry units as well as access control doors from Rosslare. A GE Interlogix Security Alarm is fully integrated into the Crestron system for touch panel control.
“The access control system on the main house has 64 controlled doors monitoring anyone that enters an area with a unique pin or assigned HID Fob,” said Steele. “If there is a party or event, access control can simply be bypassed with Crestron through relays on the maglocks.”
With this peace of mind, the family can focus on what makes them happy, which is entertaining with their musician friends. It was necessary to allow for DJ and band inputs on the exterior to jack in live audio throughout the estate, Guss explained.
“The access control system on the main house has 64 controlled doors monitoring anyone that enters an area with a unique pin or assigned HID Fob,” said Steele. “If there is a party or event, access control can simply be bypassed with Crestron through relays on the maglocks.”
With this peace of mind, the family can focus on what makes them happy, which is entertaining with their musician friends. It was necessary to allow for DJ and band inputs on the exterior to jack in live audio throughout the estate, Guss explained.
“The family also is frequently on their yacht,” Steele added. “With the new addition of the dock, we custom built low-voltage housing so the yacht can seamlessly switch over to the house systems.”
FUNctional Spaces
GWI certainly provided both the FUN and the FUNctional, and the homeowners were more than appreciative. “The homeowner informed us that one of the reasons he selected our company was due to our forward-thinking mindset,” Steele relayed. “He said we spoke about solutions that no other company brought to their attention, like voice control with JOSH AI, AR/VR gaming and video walls. He allowed us to push the massive system to its limits by utilizing best-in-class and next-generation solutions.”
The Fun Zone includes custom graphics that allow for drag-and-drop placement of any source, in any position in a 2×2 video wall or single source for entire video wall; single-touch volume control that jumps to audio of any screen; and a bowling alley and a bowling computer that can also be a source to display bowling scores and animation on a display above the lane or on the nearby video wall.
When it’s time for studies, a Future Automation Mantel Mount is used in the children’s classroom to allow the TV to be at a comfortable height when watching. “The display can also drop down to the children’s height to use as an interactive display for e-learning. This became a necessity during the pandemic,” Guss explained.
Custom Collaboration
The GWI team credits an incredibly collaborative environment between the architect, family, interior designers, builder and project management team to make the magic happen.
“For example, a creative solution was once hashed out during a design meeting to conceal the TVs with a motorized chalkboard,” Guss remembers. “The chalkboard would lower, revealing the TV and allowing the young children to draw. Once raised, it displays their artwork.
“The design team also loved one of our go-to creative solutions that seems to be a hit in our larger installations—the digital dinner bell. A concealed button under the dining room table will slowly flash the lights in the kitchen three times, notifying the staff that assistance is needed.”
Yet another depiction of teamwork was the effort of GWI to accommodate the interior designer’s wish for hidden tech. “It was very important to the designers that the technology was hidden or at least be flush to the surface,” said Steele. “This became challenging with speakers in the wood ceilings, which are difficult to conceal. We worked with a local fabric expert and theater panel company to create custom speaker grills that fit flush in the wood ceilings and were the correct width of the wood planks in the ceiling.
“This allowed us to hide the speakers without cluttering the beautiful flow of the wood ceilings. We had the fabric dyed to match the off-white ceilings, thus allowing the speakers to disappear into the wood.”
“This project was a team effort from everyone involved,” Steele added. “Communication was consistent amongst all parties. Weekly design meetings onsite and on the phone were imperative to keeping all parties on the same page and managing progress throughout.”
Contact Info
Global Wave Integration
505 S. Flower St.
Burbank, CA 91502
globalwaveintegration.com
Equipment
AVProLink Intercom System
Audio Control Atmos surround sound system with 11 speakers, 4 subs for a 7.2.4 speaker setup
BAC-Net controlled, fully-integrated into Crestron
Cisco Meraki network and IT infrastructure
Crestron Digital Media NVX
Crestron Sonnex Multi-room Audio System
Crestron-controlled DMX lighting (Fun Zone) for multiple RGB lighting zones
DoorBird entry units (Front Door Stations and Gate Control)
Enterprise Grade DDC HVAC System
Future Automation (Master Bathroom lift folds 55” TV into ceiling; Kids’ Classroom Future Automation mantel mount lowers 65” TV)
GE Interlogix Security Alarm
GWI-designed, first-of-its-kind VR/AR gaming system (integrates with Crestron)
Holovsion DoorBird units (5)
IC Realtime Surveillance Camera System
Intra-Property Fiber Link
Jandy iAqualink pool control systems (4)
Josh.ai Micros (30) are dispersed around the property for additional control by voice command
Lutron HomeWorks QS Lighting System
Lutron Pico wireless controllers
Lutron QS Motorized Shading System
Nexus 21 motorized lifts
Origin landscape speakers 192 individual and 16 subterranean
Panamax M4320s (14)
Planar 5×5 0.9 DLX Video Wall (nearly 140” diagonal) (2)
Rosslare Access Control System
SM3-PRO Panamax power conditioner (for each TV)
Somfy motor
subwoofers
SureCall cell phone booster systems
SWAMP (1) (Guest House); SWAMPE-8 expanders (4)
Photography by Living Proof Real Estate Photography
